Our Lady of Czestochowa

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks on the U.S. opioid crisis at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 23, 2025. / Credit: SETH HERALD/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2025 / 17:26 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) hosted the inaugural meeting this week of a new task force to counter anti-Christian bias in federal government policies, regulations, and practices.

“Protecting Christians from bias is not favoritism,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said ahead of the meeting. “It’s upholding the rule of law and fulfilling the constitutional promise [in the First Amendment].”

The task force’s first meeting on Tuesday was closed to the public and the media but included the heads of multiple federal departments and agencies along with witnesses who provided testimony on anti-Christian bias within the federal government.

President Donald Trump formally established the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias on Feb. 6 by executive order. His order commissioned a comprehensive review of federal departments and agencies, particularly to reverse certain actions of the previous administration.

Specific concerns of anti-Christian bias

A news release following the meeting detailed some of the concerns and policies administration officials are reviewing.

One Catholic-specific concern discussed in the meeting was the since-retracted January 2023 memo from the Richmond Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which detailed an investigation into supposed ties between “radical traditionalist” Catholics and “the far-right white nationalist movement.”

The document called for “trip wire or source development” within Catholic parishes that offer the Traditional Latin Mass and within online Catholic communities. Later revelations from the House Judiciary Committee found that the Richmond FBI used at least one undercover agent to obtain information on traditionalist Catholics and coordinated with other FBI field offices on the matter.

According to an April 22 news release after the task force meeting, Trump’s FBI director, Kash Patel, discussed “the impact of the anti-Catholic memo” during the gathering and “reiterated the FBI’s commitment to rooting out any anti-Christian bias that could be directing decisions or investigations.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the news release notes, brought up concerns about bias against a Christian Foreign Service Officer who “was threatened with an investigation for child abuse” for insisting on home-schooling his child.

According to the news release, Rubio also expressed disapproval of the Department of State stigmatizing workers who opposed the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds and retaliation against employees for “opposing DEI/LGBT ideology.” 

For her part, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon discussed concerns about gender ideology in education policies and school districts socially transitioning children without their parents’ knowledge. 

Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender voiced concerns about the Biden administration removing certain tax classifications from Christian and pro-life organizations and objections to debanking.

Michael Farris, an attorney and founder of Patrick Henry College, was one of the witnesses. Farris called attention to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigating and charging Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel for alleged Johnson Amendment violations.

Phil Mendes, a U.S. Navy Seal, spoke about how he was relieved of his duty under the Biden administration for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

CNA reached out to the DOJ and FBI for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

“As shown by our victims’ stories today, Biden’s Department of Justice abused and targeted peaceful Christians while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses,” Bondi said in a statement after the meeting. “Thanks to President Trump, we have ended those abuses, and we will continue to work closely with every member of this task force to protect every American’s right to speak and worship freely.”

Pilgrims line up inside the St. Peter’s Basilica to see Pope Francis lying in state. / Credit: Victoria Cardiel / EWTN News

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 16:51 pm (CNA).

In the endless lines of pilgrims wishing to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, whose coffin now lies open in St. Peter’s Basilica, feelings of grief and sadness are the order of the day.

“God took him too soon,” said Carmina, who had come to Rome from southern Italy for the Holy Week liturgical celebrations and after hearing the news of his death, decided to extend her stay.

“I didn’t want to leave without seeing him one last time. I was here on Sunday and saw him pass by from afar. I can’t believe he’s gone,” she told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

In St. Peter’s Square, the thousands of chairs that had been set up for Easter Sunday Mass, one of the most important celebrations for Christians, remain in place. They will now be used to accommodate the tens of thousands of people expected to attend the pope’s funeral, which will be celebrated by  Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“He made the circuit around the square here in the popemobile. It seems as if he wanted to say goodbye,” she reflected.

Next to Carmina, a group of nuns were quietly praying, rosaries in their hands, while leaning against one of the barriers used by the police to create a sort of corridor to manage the flow into St. Peter’s Basilica.

“We’re too distressed to speak or do an interview,” one of them said with tears in her eyes.

Later, a Colombian priest studying in Rome commented that although people knew the pope “was very ill,” it was still a “surprise.”

He watched on the large screens installed in St. Peter’s Square as the coffin with Pope Francis’ body was brought in and confessed that he cried when “the church bells tolled for his death.” 

“He was a great pope,” said Carlo, a young university student who noted that although he considers himself agnostic, he wanted to come by and pray for the late pontiff. This young man, like everyone else in line, waited in line for five hours.

In the flow of people entering the basilica, strangers paused to chat and even make friends. 

Amid the crowd were two priests who work at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. They had the privilege of being part of the cortege that accompanied Pope Francis’ remains from St. Martha’s House.

Father Nicolaus, who is German, said the most important thing for him was to pray for the Church in these times when it’s been sort of orphaned.

“We’ve prayed for the Holy Father and we will now pray for the Catholic Church and for the future, giving thanks for all he has done and praying for the next pope who will come,” he said.

“We pray for the unity of the Church, which is very important at this time,” noted Father Giovanni, an Italian.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance meets Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, at the Vatican / Credit: Vatican Media/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2025 / 16:21 pm (CNA).

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said this week that he is refusing to politicize Pope Francis’ death, hailing the late pontiff as a “broad” figure and a “great” leader of the Catholic Church. 

“A lot of people, especially in the American press, want to make the Holy Father — his entire legacy and even his death — about American politics,” Vance told reporters in Agra, India, while on a four-day visit with his wife, Usha, the first Hindu-American second lady. 

“He was obviously a much broader figure than the United States of America. He represents over a billion Catholics worldwide,” Vance said. 

The two leaders publicly disagreed on politics earlier in the year. In February, Pope Francis sent a pastoral letter to the U.S. bishops encouraging officials to recognize the dignity of immigrants after Vance, a Catholic convert, publicly advocated applying “ordo amoris,” or “rightly-ordered love,” to the immigration debate. 

“[A]s an American leader, but also just as an American citizen, your compassion belongs first to your fellow citizens,” Vance said at the time, while acknowledging that the principle “doesn’t mean you hate people from outside of your own borders.”

In the letter, Francis tacitly rebuked Vance’s remarks, arguing in part that “the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution, or serious deterioration of the environment damages the dignity of many men and women.”

When asked about his response to these “disagreements,” Vance said he was “aware” of them but noted that the pope “also had a lot of agreements with some of the policies of our administration.”

“I’m not going to soil the man’s legacy by talking about politics,” Vance said. “I think he was a great Christian pastor, and that’s how I choose to remember the Holy Father.”

When asked what type of pope he would prefer to be elected next, Vance said he would pray for the cardinals who will cast the votes in the upcoming conclave. 

“I won’t pretend to give guidance to the cardinals on who they should select as the next pope,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of issues to focus on in the United States.”

“I’ll just say a prayer for wisdom because I obviously want them to pick the right person, I want them to pick somebody who will be good for the world’s Catholics, but I’ll let them make that decision and obviously they’re entitled to do so,” Vance continued. 

JD Vance was among the last officials to meet with the late Pope Francis before he died on Monday. 

When asked about their providential meeting on Easter Sunday morning, Vance said he had “thought a lot about that.” 

“I think it was a great blessing,” Vance shared. 

In their meeting, Pope Francis gave the vice president three chocolate Easter eggs for his three young children as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.

“It’s pretty crazy actually, and obviously when I saw him I didn’t know he had less than 24 hours still on this earth,” Vance said.

“He saw a lot of people, he affected a lot of lives,” Vance continued. “I try to just remember that I was lucky I got to shake his hand and tell him that I pray for him every day because I did and I do.”

Vance offered condolences to Catholics around the world in light of Pope Francis’ death.

“We’re very saddened by it,” he said. “Our condolences to Catholics all over the world, but especially [those] back home who love and honor the Holy Father.”

Stephanie Gabaud receives a blessing from Pope Francis at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Sept. 24, 2015. / Credit: EWTN/screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2025 / 15:51 pm (CNA).

Among the people throughout the world remembering Pope Francis in a special way this week are three Americans who shared extraordinarily personal moments with him during his apostolic visit to the United States in September 2015.

Father Keith Burney, pastor of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in historic St. Mary’s County, Maryland, will never forget the “surreal nature” of serving at the pope’s Mass when he was a transitional deacon finishing his seminary studies at The Catholic University of America.

When Pope Francis celebrated Mass for more than 25,000 people at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Burney served as the deacon of the Eucharist, preparing the chalice with the wine and water for the Holy Father.

Burney raised the chalice of the blood of Christ as Pope Francis raised the body of Christ.

“I would have never dreamed of it,” Burney told CNA.

He recalled that the Holy Father was “not feeling well” during his visit to campus. “But,” Burney said, “when it came to celebrate the liturgy and to preach, he kind of came alive in a way.”

“It takes a lot of energy, these big papal liturgies, and he was an elderly man, and I remember noticing him just kind of pouring himself out.” 

Keating family

When Chuck Keating, director of a Catholic high school marching band from Philadelphia, heard that his group of students was selected to play for Pope Francis in the City of Brotherly Love on Sept. 26, 2015, he was ecstatic — but conflicted about one thing. 

He wasn’t sure if he should bring his then-10-year-old son Michael, who has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair.

“We weren’t going to bring Michael because it wasn’t easy to bring him,” said Keating, who serves as head of the fine arts department at Bishop Shanahan High School.

However, thanks to the encouragement of Father Michael Fitzpatrick, the family’s pastor, Keating and his wife, Kristin, decided to go ahead and bring Michael.

“Father Michael just said, ‘Listen, this is one-lifetime opportunity. You just have to have him down there and have him be a part of that moment,’” Keating said. 

When Pope Francis stepped off the plane at Philadelphia International Airport on Sept. 26, 2015, Fitzpatrick’s words proved truer than the Keating family ever could have imagined.

The Holy Father was being driven around the airport but stopped the vehicle and approached the Keating family on the tarmac. The loud environment with cheers and music suddenly went silent.

Pope Francis embraced Michael, giving him a blessing and a kiss on the head. Kristin and Chuck both shook hands with Pope Francis as well.

Keating also called the moment “surreal” and added that every year the family still celebrates the anniversary of the day Pope Francis blessed Michael, who is now 20 years old. 

“It was just a great experience,” Keating told CNA. He added that Michael is doing “fantastic.”

‘I went into a trance’

When then-17-year-old Stephanie Gabaud met Pope Francis, he gave her a blessing that she says healed her.

Gabaud, who has had spina bifida since birth, was recovering from back surgery prior to Pope Francis’ visit on Sept. 24, 2015, and didn’t know if she would be able to attend his vespers service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. 

But to her excitement, she was cleared to attend the event by her surgeon the day before the pope’s visit.

At the time of the service, Gabaud was still experiencing discomfort from the surgery, which took a rod out of her back that was causing an infection. The plan was for the rod to later be replaced because her doctor said Gabaud would not survive without it.

“It was a very difficult time in my life,” Gabaud told CNA.

But after she encountered the Holy Father, something changed.

As Pope Francis processed into the cathedral toward the altar, Gabaud said he saw her and headed toward her. “So I put my arms up and gave him a hug.”

The Holy Father made the sign of the cross on her forehead and embraced her.

“He told me to pray for him, which I am still doing.” In return, Gabaud, calling Pope Francis by his Spanish name, saying to him: “Papa Francesco, pray for me.”

Following the blessing, Gabaud asked Pat Tursi, CEO of Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center — where Gabaud is a full-time resident, serving as international spokesperson and a volunteer for the center — if she could sit in Tursi’s lap.

“And then all of a sudden, I immediately closed my eyes and just went into a trance,” Gabaud said.

“It was something of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know how you describe it, but it was something that I’ve never seen her do in all my years,” said Tursi, who has known Gabaud since she was 2 years old.

In a follow-up appointment with Gabaud’s doctor, he made the decision not to replace any rods in her back.

“He said there was a 100% chance that I would not survive without the rods. But look at me today,” she said.

In March 2023, Gabaud was able to travel to the Vatican and met again with Pope Francis. 

(The video of Gabaud’s 2015 blessing is below and can be seen at the 33:37 mark.)

Long lines of mourners, many waiting more than four hours under the hot Roman sun, wound around St. Peter’s Square on the first day of viewing for Pope Francis on April 23, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 14:37 pm (CNA).

Thousands of Catholics said their last goodbyes and paid their respects to Pope Francis on Wednesday as the late pope lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Long lines of mourners, many waiting more than four hours under the hot Roman sun, wound around St. Peter’s Square on the first day of viewing on April 23. Vatican officials indicated that they might need to extend the basilica’s hours past midnight to accommodate the large turnout. 

Many in attendance had initially come to Rome to celebrate Easter or witness the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, only to find themselves part of an unexpected historic farewell.

“The crowds are just packed… but overall it was beautiful,” said Arianne Gallagher-Welcher, a pilgrim from Washington, D.C. “You could feel how special it was for everyone … a really nice chance to say goodbye to Pope Francis.”

Gallagher-Welcher reflected on the significance of the Jubilee Year of Hope. “We were here during the Jubilee in 2000,” she said. “To thank and celebrate the life of Pope Francis during the Jubilee Year of Hope is just an incredible gift.”

As people slowly made their way to the basilica, some prayed the rosary while others sang hymns. Once inside, people were able to spend a moment in prayer before the late pope’s open casket in front of the main altar and the tomb of St. Peter. 

Clad in red vestments, a bishop’s miter on his head, and a rosary clasped in his hands, Francis was watched over in silence by four Swiss Guards standing vigil.

“As we got closer to the body of our Holy Father, it was very emotional to see him,” reflected Father Fabian Marquez of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas. “But I’m so grateful for all the great things he did for the community, bringing people together.” 

“And my personal prayer was that now he intercedes for the next Peter to come so that the next Peter can lead us where the Lord desires us to go,” Marquez said.

Marquez had traveled to Rome with fellow priests for the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Their journey took on new meaning with the pope’s death.

“Everything changed since the news that our Holy Father had passed,” Marquez said. “We decided to continue to come … just to be here with him.”

“We were able to pray the rosary with the people and it was very emotional just to be here outside of the basilica today … when they transferred the body from Santa Marta to the basilica,” he said.

Monsignor Humberto Gonzalez of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America recalled a personal memory of Pope Francis in 2020, when he concelebrated a Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe together with the pope after the loss of his mother. 

“Before the Mass, he called me to the sacristy. He gave me a hug, he gave me comfort, and he said: ‘I will offer the Mass for Carlina, for your mother.’ I carry that in my heart.”

Gonzalez paid his final respects with other Vatican officials inside the chapel in the pope’s Vatican residence before Francis’ body was transferred in a solemn procession into St. Peter’s Basilica. 

The public viewing in the basilica will continue for three days, concluding Friday at 7 p.m. when the casket will be sealed ahead of the funeral.

The monsignor said that for him it was an opportunity to say: “Thank you, Holy Father. Thank you for all the good, thank you for the gift that was your person. Thank you for giving yourself completely to humanity and for giving us so many teachings.”

The significance of the moment extended even to non-Catholics. Jai Agarwal, a 21-year-old American student at John Cabot University in Rome, joined the line to pay his respects. 

“He would always advocate for peace,” Agarwal said. “He’s one of the few people that just had genuine empathy.”

Raissa Fortes, a pilgrim from Brazil, had originally traveled to Italy for the canonization of Acutis but changed her plans upon hearing of the pope’s death. 

“It’s a mix of feelings,” she said. “I’m sad, but at the same time, I’m happy to be here in this special moment.”

She added: “When I received the sad news about Pope Francis, my husband and I decided to come earlier to say a last goodbye and be part of this moment with Pope Francis.”

Thousands of Catholics said their last goodbyes and paid their respects to Pope Francis on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, as the late pope lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 14:22 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis passed away at 7:35 a.m. local time on Easter Monday, April 21, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, as confirmed by the Holy See Press Office. The 88-year-old pontiff led the Catholic Church for a little more than 12 years.

Follow here for live updates of the latest news and information on the papal transition:

Youngsters surrounding Pope Francis in the popemobile. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2025 / 12:55 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis, baptized as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, celebrated his patron saint’s feast day every April 23. The patron saint’s day of the pope is a holiday at the Vatican and Pope Francis usually celebrated it with acts of charity toward people in need.

The patron saint of the late pontiff, St. George, is credited with protecting the papacy and is also known as an intercessor in the fight against evil.

Pope Francis was known to take every opportunity to celebrate special occasions with the poorest, as was also the case on his birthday, when he often invited hundreds of them to dine with him at the Vatican.

In 2018, the Holy Father surprised the world with his unusual gesture of distributing ice cream to the poor of Rome to celebrate St. George’s feast day.

On that occasion, with the help of the apostolic almoner, nearly 3,000 servings of ice cream were distributed in the city’s soup kitchens. This initiative set the tone for subsequent celebrations of St. George’s feast day.

In 2019, Pope Francis gave a 44-pound chocolate Easter egg to the poor who came to the Caritas soup kitchen in central Rome.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, the Holy Father donated 10 ventilators to hospitals in Romania, Italy, and Spain.

Subsequently, on April 23, 2021, Pope Francis visited the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican to greet the more than 600 poor people waiting their turn to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of the Vatican’s solidarity vaccination campaign.

It was common for Pope Francis to make these kinds of gestures to the poor of the city of which he was bishop. In fact, a few years ago he ordered the construction of showers in St. Peter’s Square as well as a health care center and shelters.

The Holy Father also invited those in need to visit the Vatican Museums, gave them a gala dinner near Piazza Bernini, and even established a special day for them, the World Day of the Poor.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis's body lies in state at St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday, April 23, 2025 / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2025 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis was brought in solemn procession to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning, where the late pontiff will lie in state for three days for mourners to pay their final respects and say goodbye.

The Rite of Translation began in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, where Francis lived for the 12 years of his pontificate, and ended with the Holy Father’s body before the Altar of Confession in the soaring basilica at the center of Christendom.

German bishops gather in Rome on Nov. 17, 2022. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

The German Catholic bishops have published a handout that offers guidance to pastors on blessings for couples in “irregular” situations such as same-sex relationships, urging clergy to use the blessings to “express appreciation” for individuals seeking the recognition from Catholic priests. 

The handout, “Blessings for Couples Who Love Each Other,” was distributed earlier this month by the joint conference of members of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK).

The guidance cites Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican document published in 2023 that was approved by Pope Francis. The German document allows for “blessings” of homosexual couples and other extramarital arrangements. It was first reported on by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. 

“Non-church married couples, divorced and remarried couples, and couples in all the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities are of course part of our society,” the bishops wrote, noting that “quite a few of these couples want a blessing for their relationship.”

“Such a request is an expression of gratitude for their love and an expression of the desire to shape this love from faith,” the document says, calling blessings “an act of the Church, which places itself at the service of divine-human encounter.” 

“The Church takes seriously the couple’s desire to place their future path in life under God’s blessing,” the handout claims. “It sees in the request for blessing the hope of a relationship with God that can sustain human life.”

“The art and manner of conducting the blessing, the location, the entire aesthetics, including music and singing, are intended to express the appreciation of the people who have asked for the blessing, their togetherness and their faith,” the guidance stipulates. 

When published in 2023, Fiducia Supplicans generated widespread international backlash from Church leaders around the world, though some bishops praised the guidance and vowed to allow the blessings in their bishoprics.

The document asserted that Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples as an expression of pastoral closeness without condoning their sexual relations. The declaration emphasized that blessings may only be given “spontaneously” and not in the context of a formal liturgical rite.

Bishops in Europe, Africa, and elsewhere said they would not be permitting priests to perform such blessings. Some bishops in the U.S., meanwhile, said they would implement the guidelines in their dioceses. 

Pope Francis several times defended the document from criticism, arguing that blessings do not require “moral perfection” before they are given.

“The intent of the ‘pastoral and spontaneous blessings’ is to concretely show the closeness of the Lord and of the Church to all those who, finding themselves in different situations, ask help to carry on — sometimes to begin — a journey of faith,” he said last year.

Assets sold to help pay a massive clergy sex abuse settlement in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, include the diocese’s former headquarters, pictured here, in downtown Buffalo. / Credit: Warren LeMay/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Buffalo, New York, will pay out a massive $150 million sum as part of a settlement with victims of clergy sexual abuse there. 

The diocese said in a press release that the diocese itself, along with parishes and affiliates, would provide the payment “to survivors of sexual abuse for acts perpetrated against them by clergy, religious, lay employees, and volunteers.” 

The settlement amount was still set to be voted on by abuse victims and approved by U.S. bankruptcy court, but the proposal has been accepted by the committee of abuse survivors in the suit, the diocese said. 

The settlement “represents an essential milestone on this protracted and arduous journey, and importantly, enables us to finally provide a measure of financial restitution to victim-survivors, which has been our primary objective all along,” Bishop Michael Fisher said on Tuesday. 

“While indeed a steep sum, no amount of money can undo the tremendous harm and suffering the victim survivors have endured, or eliminate the lingering mental, emotional, and spiritual pain they have been forced to carry throughout their lives,” the prelate said. 

The diocese said it was still in talks with insurers “to determine amounts to be added to the final settlement fund from prevailing coverages.”

In a press release provided to CNA, New York law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates, which has represented abuse victims in the suit, said the amount was “the second-largest contribution by a bankrupt Roman Catholic institution and its affiliates in any Roman Catholic bankruptcy case to date.”

The settlement is “a major step forward to reaching a long-awaited resolution for the hundreds of strong, heroic survivors who came forward in the Diocese of Buffalo,” attorney Stacey Benson said in the release. 

The parties in the suit “continue to negotiate nonmonetary terms of the settlement, including strengthening child protection measures and the release of diocesan documents pertaining to the accused perpetrators,” the law firm noted. 

The payout comes several months after the largest diocesan-level bankruptcy settlement in U.S. history, when the Diocese of Rockville Centre — also in New York — agreed to pay $323 million to abuse victims. 

The largest Church abuse payout total in U.S. history thus far has been at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which last year agreed to a near-$1 billion payment to abuse victims.